The first-ever comprehensive Pali-Hindi dictionary is being compiled by Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, an autonomous institute under the Union government's department of culture.
When completed the new Pali-Hindi dictionary will be a major source material for the study of original Pali texts available in different parts of the world by Hindi-speaking research scholars.
However, the compilation work of the dictionary is expected to be over only by the next year.
In its final version, the dictionary will run into several volumes and will contain about 60,000 entries of which about 6,000 have already been included.
The Mahavihara has also plans to develop a software for the dictionary so as to ensure its wider reach and periodic updating.
Till date, there has been no comprehensive Pali-Hindi dictionary available in the country. Way back in the 1950s, a Buddhist monk, Anand Kaushalayan, brought out a small Pali-Hindi dictionary, which has now become obsolete.
"We have so far been completely dependent on the Pali-English dictionary for research which is mainly done by foreigners," Ravindra Panth, director of the Mahavihara, has been reported as saying.
Three noted scholars of Pali and Sanskrit -- Sukomal Chaudhari, retired principal of Sanskrit College, Kolkata, Braj Mohan Pandey Nalin, former head of the department of Pali, Magadh University, and Uma Shankar Vyas, former director of the Mahavihara -- have been engaged to work on this stupendous project. Apart from these scholars, three research assistants are also working on the project.
According to Panth, the compilers are in constant touch with another prestigious body - Vipasana Research Institute at Igatpuri in Maharashtra for academic inputs.
The Mahavihara is affiliated to Magadh University, Bodh Gaya, and Kameshwar Singh Sanskrit University, Darbhanga.
The compilation of the dictionary is one of the major research projects undertaken by this 52-year-old institute located near the excavated site of the ancient Nalanda University.
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